This invention relates to photographic materials. In a preferred form it relates to duplitized photographic reflective images.
In the formation of color paper it is known that the base paper has applied thereto a layer of polymer, typically polyethylene. This layer serves to provide waterproofing to the paper, as well as providing a smooth surface on which the photosensitive layers are formed. The formation of a suitably smooth surface is difficult requiring great care and expense to ensure proper laydown and cooling of the polyethylene layers. The formation of a suitably smooth surface would also improve image quality, as the display material would have more apparent blackness as the reflective properties of the improved base are more specular than the prior materials. As the whites are whiter and the blacks are blacker, there is more range in between and, therefore, contrast is enhanced. It would be desirable if a more reliable and smoother surface could be formed at less expense.
Prior art photographic reflective photographic papers are coated with light sensitive silver halide imaging layers on one side of the paper and thus images only appear on one side of the photographic paper. Typically, the side opposite the imaging layers contains the manufacture brand name and is coated with an antistatic coating. Prior art photographic paper is typically conveyed on the backside during manufacture of the paper and in photographic processing as contact with the numerous rollers and platens in manufacturing and photographic image processing would scratch the imaging layers reducing the quality of the image. Further, photographic printing equipment is currently configured to print only one side of the photographic paper.
Prior art two sided photographs or reflective photographs with images on both sides are accomplished by printing two separate imaging elements containing a light sensitive silver halide coating on one side of the support and adhesively adhering the two developed images back to back after imaging processing. While this process does yield a two-sided photograph that can be utilized for album paging for example, it is expensive and time consuming as thickness of the prior art two-sided photograph is excessive. The thick, two-sided image is difficult to handle, expensive to mail and does not easily fit into photographic albums and frames designed for a single thickness of support material.
It has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,866,282 Bourdelais et al., to utilize a composite support material with laminated biaxially oriented polyolefin sheets as a photographic imaging material. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,866,282, biaxially oriented polyolefin sheets are extrusion laminated to cellulose paper to create a support for silver halide imaging layers. The biaxially oriented sheets described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,866,282 have a microvoided layer in combination with coextruded layers that contain white pigments. The composite imaging support structure described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,866,282 has been found to be more durable, sharper and brighter than prior art photographic paper imaging supports that use cast melt extruded polyethylene layers coated on cellulose paper.
The continuing thrust towards digital printing of photographic color papers has created the need for a consumer color paper that can work in both negative working optical and digital exposure equipment. In order for a color paper to correctly print, utilizing a color negative curve shape of the paper is critical. In a digital environment (direct writing) to a photographic paper, the curve shape to a degree can be electomodulated and thus have a greater degree of freedom that the color negative working system. Ideally, a color paper that could substantially maintain tone scale from conventional optical negative working exposure times to sub microsecond digital direct writing exposure times would be preferred. This would enable a photofinishing area to maintain one paper for both digital and optical exposure thereby reducing the need for expensive inventory. Furthermore, digital printing of a page would allow for page composition for album pages.
There is a continuing need for silver halide images that can be efficiently printed on both sides of the photographic paper. Further, there is also continuing need for photographic elements that are more durable in use and lighter weight for handling during the formation, imaging, and development process.
It is an object of the invention to provide a silver halide image printed on both sides of the support.
It is an another of the invention to overcome disadvantages of prior art and practices.
It is another object to provide photographic elements that are lightweight and thin for ease of handling during formation of the element and its imaging and development.
These and other objects of the invention are accomplished by a photographic element comprising a base having a reflection surface on each side having a spectral transmission of less than 10% and at least one photosensitive silver halide containing layer on each side wherein said photographic element has a speed less than 50 ASA.
The invention provides a photographic element that has images printed on both sides, light in weight for ease of formation, imaging and development but may be easily adhered to a variety of substrates.